Automatic stop mechanism for talking-machines



v s R. HOWARD. AUTOMATIC STOP MECHANISM FOR TALKING MACHINES. APPLICATION FLLED MAR. 2.19%.

T l 1 98,.Q66 Patented Aug, 1, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I- INVENTOR ATTORNEY-E5 S. R. HOWARD. AUTOMATIC STOP MECHANISM FOR TALKING MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 2.1916.

"mmgwo lfitonred Aug. 1, HHS.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR s. R. HOWARD. AUTOMATICSTQIIUWECI'IAIIISIII FUR TALKING MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 2. I9I6- Patented Aug. 1, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

pairs ethane rrr'rnnr amen.

STANLEY n. HOWARD, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

AUTOMATIC STOP MECHANISM FOR TALKING-MACHINES.

record table when the record has been played. v v I Commercial records of certain types'are provided near their centers with a circular groove known as a stop groove into which the last convolution of the tone grooves enters and vanishes. The function of this groove is to form an indicator into which the needle, before the swinging of the tone arm into position for the needle to engage with the outermost tone groove, is first manually dropped and while in the groove availed of to make possible the adjustment of a. lever stop device for the table, the lever of which will be encountered by a depending stop arm on the tone arm when. the tone arm has completed its swing and the needle completed its traverse of the record.

Many devices have been contrived to automatically lift the needle from the record when it has reached the stop groove but all of them possess disadvantages which it is the object of my invention to overcome, and among which may be mentioned the tendency of the needle to scratch the groove, the difficulty of its initial adjustment wlth reference to the groove, the uncertainty of uniform performance, and the complexity of the construction.

The object of my invention, generally considered, is to provide a simple, inexpensive and effective means for easily and quickly occasioning both the lifting of the needle and the stopping of the table, by the use of which the possibility of injuring the record by the accidental movement of the needle radially outward across its tone grooves when first being set down into the stop groove, and the necessity'of causing the .needle to toueh'the record until it is placed in position to begin playing, are both avoided.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 2, 1916. Serial No. 81,676,

Patented Aug. 1,1916.

Having this and other objects in view, my lnventlon comprehends means entirely independent of the needle or record table, for so adjusting the mathine that the-desired liftmg of the needle can be effected, and at the same time the stoppage of the table at the desired point be secured.

For the purpose of illustrating my in-,

vention, I have shown in the accompanying drawings a certain type and embodiment of it which is at present preferred by me because in practice it has given satisfactory however, that the various instrumentalities of which my invention isembod ed can be variously arranged and organized and that my invention is not therefore limited to theprecise arrangement and organization of and reliable results. It is to be understood,

these instrumentalities which are typified in the constructions illustrated in the accompanying drawings and hereinafter described. f

In the drawings :-Figure 1 represents in side elevation a portion of the casing of a talking machine, the tone arm, and its extension to the amplifier, and the devices which my invention comprehends, the. parts being shown in the position which they occupy just before the .(lOl'llll'lGIlCQlllOlll) of the playing. Fig. 2 represents a view similar to Fig. 1, the parts, however, being represented in the position which they occupy when the playing has been completed, the needle lifted and the table stopped. Fig. 3 represents a plan view of the index arm and linger in the positionto occasion the lifting of the needle and the stoppage of the table when the needle has completed its traverse and reached the point of its desired stopping,the sound box and needle being shown in the position they occupy when they have been set for thestarting of the playing. Fig. 4 represents a transverse section through the tone arm on the dotted line :a:r of Fig. 3, sight being taken in the direction of the arrows upon said line. Fig. 5 represents a transverse section through the tone-arm on the line ;z i of Fig. 3, sight being taken in the direction of the arrows upon said line. justable trigger stop. Fig. 7 is a plan detail of the stopping and starting lever and the brake, of the type used, for instance, on

Fig. 6 is a detail of the admoved from the machine. Fig- 9 represents a top plan view of the lifting leve'r of the sound box and needle.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts. I

Referring to the drawings :-1 designates v so much of the casin of a talking machine as is necessary to il ustrate my invention. 2 is the tone arm of any usual type, 3 the amplifier extension upon which the tone, arm

swings, 4' the sound box swiveled on a goose neck 5 in the usual manner.

. opening 16 ing generally understood, requires no further explanation.

14 designates my index arm andfinger, 14, which is clamped upon the tone arm by a spring clamping collar 15 having an i The connection between the collar and the arm is conveniently in the form of a connecting bracket 17.

4 is a handle for manipulating the index a m. The index arm and its finger, as will be understood, is therefore capable, against the clamping resistance of the clamping collar, of being swung horizontally referably to the swinging axis of the tone arm as its own axis.

18 is what I term a trigger stop, extending laterally from the index arm and being conveniently threaded so as tofit within a threaded socket 19 integral with or attached tothe index arm.

. 20 is what I term a lifting lever pivoted beneath its tone arm and extending beneath its outer end. A good form of trunnion or pivot connection between the lever and the arm is shown in Fig. 4, and consists of a depending lug 21 connected with a trunnion 23, the pivots of whiehare designated '22 and fit within an armed bracket 24 integral with or attached to the tone arm. Obviously, the lifting lever is capable of rockingnpon its pivots beneath the tone arm.

25 is a. spring for the lifting lever, af-

fixed to the tone arm conveniently by having its outer end clamped to it by the bracket 24. The spring extends rearwardly of its attachment to the tone arm in parallelism with but above that inner portion of the lifting lever which extends to the rear of itspivot, and to insure the free end of the spring from slipping off the lever which it tends normally to hold down, it isprovided with a pair of .elips 26 which extend over both sides of the lifting lever. The outer end of the lifting lever extends beyond its pivot to beneath the vertical center of the sound box when turned over and forwardly for action, and is preferably inturned to form a thumb piece 27 which sub-serves the two functions, first, ofpermitting of the manual depression of the lever against the resistance of its spring so as to effect the engagement of its then uplifted rear end with the trigger 31, as hereinafter ex plained, and second, of forming a contact surface beneath the periphery of the sound box to permit of its lifting the sound box and its needle referably to the rotary axis of the goose neck in its connection with the tone arm, when the record has been played and the trigger tripped. The inner end of the lifting lever is turned downwardly to form what I term a heel 28, which, in certain positions of the parts, in the dropping down .of the lever when released from the trigger encounters what I term a stop segment 29 extending from and inturned at the inner end of what I term the auxiliary brake lever 30, as later explained.

31 is what I term a trigger, depending from the tone arm at a point between its swinging axis and the outer circumference of the record table. This trigger is of the gravity type and preferably of the form indicatedin Fig. 5, swings upon a pivot 32 which parallels the horizontal extension of the tone arm, and is conveniently connected with the tone arm by a block or housing 33 integral with or attached to the under surface of said tone arm. The trigger is not only of the gravity type but may be said to be of bell-crank form, that is to say, it consists of a vertically depending member to .whieh the numeral 31 is applied and of a horizontally extending curved "top member 34,- which in the normal gravitatiycly depending position of the trigger bears against the under surface of the tone arm and'forms a stop to prevent the swing of the trigger in more than one direction, that is say in a direction other than to the right hand in Fig. The upper inner vertical side face of the trigger is formed near its upper end and the crotch between it and its curved member, with a notch which I term a lever notch, for engagement with the lifting lever 20, as shown in full lines in Figs. '1 and 5, when said lever in the depression of its outer end and against the resistance of its spring is so lifted as necessarily to engage within it.

Referring again to the auxiliary brake lever 30,-36 is an incline-faced stop shoulder formed onits upper face, which during the running of the table engages against the stopping and starting lever 10. The auxiliary stop lever being a spring lever firmly fastened at its inner end by the screw 37 to the casing, normally serves, after the table has been started, to permit of its running, but when deplessed at its free end by the contact of the heel 28 of the lifting lever 20 which takes place as soon as the trigger stop 18 encounters the depending arm of the trig- 31, also serves to set free the brake lever '20 so that the spring 13 of said lever 10 can act upon it to throw in the brake and stop the table.

38 is a staple within which the auxiliary lever has an up and down movement and which serves to prevent its displacement.

The stop segment is-an arc the radius of which. centers in the axis of the tone arm, and this shape is adapted for'the purpose of assuring the contact of the heel of the lifting lever with said stop segment no matter what the position of the tone arm, the needle and the sound box may be when it is desired to lift the needle and stop the table.

The, operation of the device so far as not already described, will be easily understood :l i herever, within its range of in and out movements, the index arm may be placed at starting, that is whether its finger be over the stop groove of the record or over any one of the tone grooves, the arm by reason of the clamping action of its collar 15 will remain in that position, and. of course within a range of movement calculated as not greater than the length of the arc of the stop segment the trigger stop 18 will come to a standstill. Assume the trigger arm placed where desired, the needle inserted, and the sound box thrown backward on the tone arm so as to leave exposed thethumb piece 27 or outer end of the lifting lever,-pressure then manually exerted upon said outer end will overcome the resistance of the spring and raise the inner or heel end of the lever up to a point where it passes the notch of the trigger and so permits of thegravitative inward movement of said trigger andof the consequent engagement of the lever with its notch. After this has been done, the table is started and the sound box thrown over to bring the needle in line with the starting groove and itself in line over the outer end of the lifting lever, as shown in Fig. 1. The starting lever is then thrown to the left in Fig. 7, and clears the notch on the outer free portion of the auxiliary lever and so permits said auxiliary lever under its own resilience to spring up at its outer end as far as the staple will permit, and untilthe stop segment is raised to a height within reach of the drop of the heel of the lifting lever, where, in the swinging in of the tone arm, the depending portion. of thetrigger will encounter the trigger stop,--which in thethen position of the index arm is standing still, and so will occasion the tripping of the trigger and the release of the lifting lever, which, under the throw of its spring, will cause the heel to encounter and come to rest upon the stop segmentand'at the same time cause the outer end of said lifting lever to strike and lift the so-mid box to a height suflicient to free the needle from the record. ln practice I find that a gravity trigger -is simpler and more inexpensive than a spring-controlled trigger would be, but I do not wish to confine myself to n gravity trigger, as any trigger device adapted to engage the inner end of the lifting lever would be its mechanical emlivalent. Simi larly, while a notch of the form shown is better than a pin or other equivalent stop on the trigger would be, I do not confine myself to such a notch. Similarly, again, while I preferxto provide the lifting lever with a thumb piece at its outer end and with a heel at its inner end, neither feature is of the essence of the lifting lever as such. Similarly, further, the trigger stop and the index armalthough convenient, are not sential, as the index arm itself, or any protrusion from it, will, as will be evident,"

. along its upper face to encounter either the heel of the lifting lever when. dropped, no matter what the position of the index arm may be, or to encounter the inner end of the lifting lever even should it not be provided with a downturned heel, it will sub serve my purpose of stopping the downward movement of the lifting lever at the time when it is desired to stop it.

It will now be apparent that I have devised a novel and useful automatic stop mechanism for talking machines which embodies the features of advantage enumerated as desirable, and that while I have in the present instance, shown and described a preferred embodiment of it which has in praclltl l 'lli 1. A machine of the class recited, which.

comprises in combinationr a rotatable recordtable adapted to 'carry a record;a" device for stopping and startmg. said ta- -ble;a stopping and starting leverfor operating said dev1ce;-a swinging tone in place for playing, and the inner end of which extends toward the swlngmg ax s of the tone arm;an index arm above the table and record which has a swinging movement above the record upon an axis coincident, with that of the tone arm;a

notched trigger carried by the tone arm comprises adapted to engage the inner end of the lifting lever when said inner end is lifted and a resilient auxiliarylever fixed at its inner end, provided with a shoulder adapted to engage the stopping and starting lever, and at its outer endprovided with a stop surface which lies beneath the inner end of the lifting lever.

. 2. A machine of the class recited, which in combination :a rotatable record table adapted to carry a'reeord;a

device for stopping and starting said ta-.

ble;a stopping and starting lever for 0peratlng said dev1ce;a swinging tone arm ;a spring-controlled lifting lever pivoted to said tone arm, the outer end of which extends beneath the rim of the sound box when in place for playing, and the inner end of which extends toward the swinging axis of the tone-arm;an index arm above the table and record which has a swinging movement above the record upon an axis coincident with that of the tone arm;a

notched trigger carried by and depending from the tone arm, adapted toengage and hold up the inner end of the lifting lever when the outer end of said lever is depressed to cause such engagement, and which in the swing of the tone arm will encounter the in .dex arm so as to be tripped by it and so ef- C. D. .AICVAY. 

